So I have a CM 212 EVO HSF that is about a year old. Recently it has developed a faint chatter -- not the whine of a bearing going bad, more like a rubbing of a blade or the hub. This isn't consistent -- sometimes it goes away after a power cycle -- but this fan has always been the noisiest in the case (the only one I can actually hear). So I'm planning on replacing it before it gets really annoying. A while back in this thread flip-mode mentioned replacing the stock fan with a Noctua NF-P12. I'm wondering if anyone has done with any other fans they'd recommend -- I have nothing against the Noctua, but I'd prefer a PWM fan so that the BIOS can control it.

Incidentally, I think part of the reason I noticed this was because the fan controller running all but one of the case fans died (I was rather surprised when I opened the case and saw only one case fan spinning). This was the "stock" fan controller that comes with some Fractal Design cases (an Arc Mini). Not a big deal -- I'm not overclocking and I currently don't even have a discrete GPU in that system so the fans were overkill anyway -- but with less airflow in the case I imagine the heatsink fan was spinning at higher RPMs and thus the noise was exaggerated. And rather sad that what amounts to a pot and a few connectors couldn't last a little longer.

Should be about the same....but it's 10 bucks, you can't argue with that. Buy 2 for the price of a single Noctua. Highly unlikely that none of them will work as advertised.

If you want an upgrade though, there is no way around it and you need to spend more for a Noctua or w/e. I haven't read fan reviews in a while so idk which one is the best for heatsinks at 2000 RPM or lower. Usually it's recommended to buy bigger fans (140mm) with 120mm frame but idk if the clamping mechanism of your cooler allows that.

nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more infoDisclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.

The Delta fan you recommended would short the mobo. Not to mention that it has a thickness of 38mm which would make it incompatible with the fan retetion mechanism of the CM Hyper Evo. Sure you could improvise something, but would you trust that beast on the CPU cooler with a makeshift retention clip?

nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more infoDisclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.

I'm not an expert but at full tilt that fan will not have enough juice. That said, i'm no electrician so idk what would happen in this situation but after googling a bit many claimed they have fried their motherboard headers because of this.

Feel free to bring arguments as to why i'm wrong.

auxy wrote:I haven't seen the "Hyper Evo", but the Hyper212 I've used had the rubber peg type which doesn't care how thick the fan is.┐(‘～`；)┌

nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more infoDisclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.

4 pin Molex. The fan in question doesn't plug into the motherboard, it connects directly to the PSU.

Oh, guess i feel stupid now. Fair enough, but can the fan clips of the Evo keep it in place due to the extra thickness? It also costs $30. OP didn't say much about budget but that's not exactly a cheap fan.

nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more infoDisclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.

I picked up 4 of these just a few months ago. Build quality is fantastic, I bought mine in black. Orange too tacky for me COUGAR CF-V12HP Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing (Fluid) 300,000 Hours 12CM Silent Cooling Fan with Pulse Width Modulationas for lasting 300,000hrs or 25+years i do not know about that but they work great on my h60 type closed loop water cooler in push pull along with 2 in the side panel as intakes for cooling my GPU's and motherboards VRMs etc.

They are very quiet and push a decent amount of air. With 4 at 100% I hear a very low pitch airflow noise. At 60% and under they are silent. In a HAF 922 case that is pretty good since they have only 1 solid panel on the whole case, the front of the case is mesh and the side, top and rear is very large honeycomb design. Great for airflow Bad for sound dampening.

At some point I guess I felt like I didn't have enough fans so I bought two 4-packs of Cooler Master R4's. They're only 3-pin, so depending on your mobo it might not control the speeds all that well, but they're fairly quiet and they move as much air as my Hyper 212 Plus (which I got before the EVO came out)

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

This is what I put on my 212 Evo. The fan that came with the 212 Evo was too loud from day 1. I'm too damn sensitive to PC noise. The NF-P12 is a great fan, though. With a little bit of fan speed control applied, it cannot be heard.

Tested just now; the fan that I suggested does fit on a Hyper212 with the plastic clips.（・∀・）I think I was thinking of a different heatsink (Xigmatek?) with the rubber peg design.

THAT SAID, it was only a HHOS ("ha-ha, only serious") suggestion, a bit tongue-in-cheek.（⌒▽⌒）It doesn't have PWM control after all, which was one of the OP's requirements. (Although with a fan that powerful, you should really be using a fan controller anyway...)

Some years ago I bought a few dozen IPCQUEEN 120mm PWM fans from Newegg with a nice bulk discount. (My brother and I have a small home business doing PC maintenance and repair). It appears they don't carry the model anymore; it's actually a ball-bearing fan and pretty cheap, too. I usually use those for customers' PCs; it's pretty quiet for a cheap fan, but the Noctuas will be quieter.